Little Spark

17 - Training Day

Apollo is parked at the curb when Luca and I come out of detention on Thursday—which Mr. Casey did make us serve for the sake of 'avoiding suspicion'.

"Thanks for coming to get us, Pol," Luca says as we climb into the car.

"No problem. Besides, there's no way I would miss seeing Bliss go through her first training session."

"Ha! We should have brought popcorn."

"And sunglasses."

"And heat-resistant blankets." They both laugh.

"Hello, sitting right here. This is scary enough as it is."

"Ah, you'll be fine," Apollo says. "You might singe your eyebrows off like Candis did, but hey, they grow back."

"Speaking of Candis," Luca says, "It's too bad she had that volunteer thing with Von. She would've loved to see this."

"Yeah. Too bad." There's a hint of melancholy in Apollo's tone, and Luca and I make eye contact in the rearview mirror. Apparently, neither of us knows what to say. Since Apollo doesn't speak again, we ride the rest of the way to Caldwell in an awkward silence.

When we pull up, Mr. Casey is standing out front waiting for us.

"Hey, how'd he beat us here?" I ask. "Wasn't he still grading papers when we left?"

Luca looks at me like I asked if fish could drown. "The man is about to teach you how to use your gifts—including the one where you travel at the speed of light—and you're asking how he beat us here?"

As if on cue, Mr. Casey appears at my window and winks at me. "Gah!" I scream, throwing my arms up in a blocking motion; my hands smack the ceiling of the car, sparking like mad. All three of them laugh hysterically.

I scowl at Mr. Casey as I step out of the backseat.

"Aww, come on, kiddo." He throws an arm across my shoulders as we walk toward the entrance. "We have to have a little fun, right?"

When we step into Caldwell, all the ceiling lights come on.

"Man, he's good," Apollo whispers behind me. "I still have to use a trigger motion."

"Blinking is just as effective a trigger motion as snapping or clapping, Mr. Brighton." Mr. Casey smiles. "You and Miss Dean have a seat. Miss Myer, please follow me."

Luca and Apollo sit on a couple of checkout counters, and Mr. Casey and I head down to the center of a light bulb aisle.

"So, Bliss," Mr. Casey begins, "First and foremost, let's be clear: at school, I am Sir Casey, Professeur Extraordinaire de Littérature Anglaise." I chuckle at the fact that he says it in French. "Here," he continues, "'Light Lord' is the only acceptable designation." He grins, and every packaged bulb on the row illuminates. "Now, before we begin, how much do you know about our kind and our enemies?"

"Mmmm... well Luca told me the folktale about the bird, and Candis and Apollo gave me a little demonstration of what we can do, but when it comes to our enemies, the details are a little fuzzy."

He nods. "It's vital that you understand the origin of our battle before learning how to fight. You may want to have a seat...."

A little wary, I do as he says.

He clears his throat. "So according to the legends, one day right here in our little town, a Spark man and a Clairvo woman conceived and birthed a set of twin girls. As the girls got older, it was discovered that the younger twin, named Hawk for the clarity seen in her eyes, possessed both the gift of physical light and the gift of supernatural insight—she was a Spark and a Clairvo. Other Sparks and Clairvos came from far and wide to meet Hawk because the combination of the two gifts was unprecedented; in fact, because of the strength required to maintain control of each, it should have been impossible for the gifts to coexist inside one fragile human form.